Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (1632-1677) lived in the Netherlands at a time when political change had completely changed the way of philosophy. At one time, he was considered the father of the Enlightenment.He believed Christianity and Judaism where only kept alive by rigid dogma and outer ritual. Spinoza was the first to apply historico-critical interpretation of the Bible.
Biography.
Baruch Spinoza was born in 1632 and lived in the Netherlands before the time of the Enlightenment. His ancestors were Spanish Jewish people who settled around Spain and Portugal during the 16th century. He attended the Jewish school and the synagogue. Spinoza studied Hebrew and the works of Jewish and Arabian theologians, as a child. His father had hoped that he would become a rabbi.
When Spinoza was 20 years old, he started taking lessons from Frances van den Enden. There, he was introduced to scholastic philosophy, that provided much of the terminology of Spinoza`s Ethics. Christian ways of thinking increased his dissatisfaction with the biblical understanding he got from the rabbis.
He wrote many of his major works around five years before his death. He died in February in 1677. His death was due to lung illnesses from lens grinding.He was considered the greatest heretic of the 17th century.
Philosophy
Spinoza was inspired by Descartes, Aristotle, and Plato. He inspired Hegel and Marx.
He was a pantheist and believed in determinism. Spinoza believed mind and body were two separate things, but then later changed his views to think that mind and body are conceived of the same thing.
He thought good and evil were relatively the same.
Major Works.
Ethics (1665 finished) (published 1677) Opera Posthuma (1677) includes Political Treatise, Treatise on the Improvement of understanding, Letters, and Hebrew Grammar
He also reworded Rene Descartes', A Treatise on Religious and Political Philosophy (1670)
Quotations.
To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole Baruch SpinozRead more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/baruchspin119359.html#yG6wqTeS2j1fZrIF.99To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a wholeTo give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a wholeRead more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/baruchspin119359.html#yG6wqTeS2j1fZrTo give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.
All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear.
Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.
Ambition is the immoderate desire for power.
Bibliography.
Scruton, Roger. Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. Print.
Higgins, Kathleen M. Solomon, Robert C. A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.
Brainyquotes.com. Brainy Quotes, 2014. Web. 22 May 2014.
Baruch Spinoza
By: Lauren BaffordIntroduction.
Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (1632-1677) lived in the Netherlands at a time when political change had completely changed the way of philosophy. At one time, he was considered the father of the Enlightenment.He believed Christianity and Judaism where only kept alive by rigid dogma and outer ritual. Spinoza was the first to apply historico-critical interpretation of the Bible.
Biography.
Baruch Spinoza was born in 1632 and lived in the Netherlands before the time of the Enlightenment. His ancestors were Spanish Jewish people who settled around Spain and Portugal during the 16th century. He attended the Jewish school and the synagogue. Spinoza studied Hebrew and the works of Jewish and Arabian theologians, as a child. His father had hoped that he would become a rabbi.
When Spinoza was 20 years old, he started taking lessons from Frances van den Enden. There, he was introduced to scholastic philosophy, that provided much of the terminology of Spinoza`s Ethics. Christian ways of thinking increased his dissatisfaction with the biblical understanding he got from the rabbis.
He wrote many of his major works around five years before his death. He died in February in 1677. His death was due to lung illnesses from lens grinding.He was considered the greatest heretic of the 17th century.
Philosophy
Spinoza was inspired by Descartes, Aristotle, and Plato. He inspired Hegel and Marx.
He was a pantheist and believed in determinism. Spinoza believed mind and body were two separate things, but then later changed his views to think that mind and body are conceived of the same thing.
He thought good and evil were relatively the same.
Major Works.
Ethics (1665 finished) (published 1677)
Opera Posthuma (1677) includes Political Treatise, Treatise on the Improvement of understanding, Letters, and Hebrew Grammar
He also reworded Rene Descartes', A Treatise on Religious and Political Philosophy (1670)
Quotations.
Bibliography.
Scruton, Roger. Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. Print.
Higgins, Kathleen M. Solomon, Robert C. A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.
Brainyquotes.com. Brainy Quotes, 2014. Web. 22 May 2014.